Do you get insurance for small, local cruises?

[shipgeeks]

We rarely buy insurance for a cruise, certainly not for a local one.  We've never felt vulnerable doing that, but it is certainly a personal decision.

It is my understanding that bills incurred on the ship can be submitted to one's health insurance carrier when back home, and should be reimbursed if the injury or sickness would be covered at home.

For the possibility of being hospitalized in a country that requires immediate payment before treatment, we carry credit cards that will allow us to do that.

[mafig]

We're on Medicare.  That doesn't cover you outside the country.🙁

[grandgeezer]

Forty seven cruises, 484 days at sea, and 36 flights and never had insurance. Did the assessment and felt even if we had to be medevaced from Europe, it would not affect our financial situation. Though we didn't even get pricing, I'm sure the savings was significant.

Health insurance, home owners insurance, and car insurance is a whole different ball game.

[cruisinfanatic]

2 hours ago, mafig said:

We're on Medicare.  That doesn't cover you outside the country.🙁

what's the difference in length or type of cruise. You get ill or injured, you'll be sorry if you need to be medevaced plus the medical bill

[karena1]

We buy an annual policy just in case.  We are getting older also, and if something happens, at least it will cover the cost to be airlifted if necessary.  In all the years we have had insurance, have only used it once, but just worth it to us to have that peace of mind.   We use Allianz for our annual policy.

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, cruisinfanatic said:

what's the difference in length or type of cruise. You get ill or injured, you'll be sorry if you need to be medevaced plus the medical bill

The longer the cruise, the greater the chance of something bad happening.

[molly361]

We have gotten Royal's insurance for a couple of pricier cruises just in case something happens so we could get the cruise fare back.  Actually used it on our last cruise before the shutdown.  Dan was sick and did not go.  He did not go to the doctor but we at least got 75% back in a cruise voucher

 

That said I just started looking at the annual plans yesterday and will get one before our first cruise next month  Either Geo Blue or Alliantz

Edited July 11, 2021 by molly361

[FredZiffle]

Keep in mind that those of you who are cruising to Alaska this summer, you are not leaving the US, so your regular medical insurance should cover you.

 

For other cruises outside the US, a good site for comparing coverages is www.squaremouth.com.  I have no interest in what I call disappointment insurance (coverage for trip cancellation, etc.), but I can find basic medical that covers evacs and up to $15,000 in medical coverage for less than $50 for two seniors.

[ronandcarla]

Yes.  We never insure the flight bc we're good with a voucher; over our lifetime we have had to make a claim twice, (1)  land vacation to St Martin and (2) our last proposed cruise by reason of a 3 day long snowstorm.  For us it's part of the vacation expense, just like house/car insurance.

[SRF]

I always get medical and med evac insurance.

 

I figure those would be unexpected costs.  I typically do not insure the cost of the trip.  As I have budgeted that, and while I would be unhappy, it would not be a huge financial burden.

 

But I did find, I can insure up to about $500 of the trip cost for about $15 more than $0 trip cost.

 

So would I would get back $500 or $750 (some pay up to 150% of the insured value for certain situations).

[ZoeyVictoria]

On 7/11/2021 at 2:14 PM, molly361 said:

We have gotten Royal's insurance for a couple of pricier cruises just in case something happens so we could get the cruise fare back.  Actually used it on our last cruise before the shutdown.  Dan was sick and did not go.  He did not go to the doctor but we at least got 75% back in a cruise voucher

 

That said I just started looking at the annual plans yesterday and will get one before our first cruise next month  Either Geo Blue or Alliantz

I have seven unused policies through insuremytrip.com that I am trying to sort out.  Yesterday we checked out annual plans and decided to use the seven already-purchased policies for our next seven cruises, then switch to an annual plan through Allianz.  It will save some money and the aggravation we experienced with the purchase/move/cancel merry-go-round we have been on.  

[molly361]

1 minute ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I have seven unused policies through insuremytrip.com that I am trying to sort out.  Yesterday we checked out annual plans and decided to use the seven already-purchased policies for our next seven cruises, then switch to an annual plan through Allianz.  It will save some money and the aggravation we experienced with the purchase/move/cancel merry-go-round we have been on.  

I'm going to buy an Alliantz one before our first cruise next month.  It even has a small cruise cancellation part which I don't think GEO Blue (the other annual one) has

[hotsauce126]

I've never bought travel insurance for any trip but we're young without any significant medical issues and have both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum cards that have a significant number of travel protections

[ZoeyVictoria]

Just now, molly361 said:

I'm going to buy an Alliantz one before our first cruise next month.  It even has a small cruise cancellation part which I don't think GEO Blue (the other annual one) has

That is exactly why we chose Allianz.  And their website spells out everything we need to know so much better than GeoBlue did.  My only concern is not needing the annual policy until February, because I will be applying the existing policies differently than if we continue with individual policies (using them sequentially vs. applying them to the more expensive cruises).  I think I have a tendency to over analyze pretty much everything, and the annual plan starting next year will be fine!

[Joseph2017China]

I have an annual policy which is cheaper than one cruise policy.  It covers for all trips over 100 miles, including cars.  However, my medical insurance is my primary insurance anyplace I go, and the travel insurance will just pick up the difference.

[Joebucks]

On 7/10/2021 at 8:20 PM, Ashland said:

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it 

 

More context needed. 99% of people will never "need" it. To spend thousands on a severely unlikely outcome isn't necessarily better.

 

I believe there's a big difference between a young, healthy, person doing a trip to the Caribbean vs a person in their 60s with health problems, doing a world cruise.

 

On 7/10/2021 at 10:26 PM, sandebeach said:

After my husband retired, we started doing a weekend cruise out of Miami almost monthly. So I decided to buy an annual travel insurance policy from Allianz, it was cheaper than buying insurance for each cruise. It also covers us for any personal land-based trip that is over 200 miles (? it may be even less) from our home and is not a business trip. 

 

I believe this is one of the smarter scenarios if you must purchase insurance. There are also many annual policies for medical evac for those concerned. That can be a costly endeavor. Personally, I use a "premium" credit card that includes fairly solid travel insurance. 

 

By and large, insurance is a zero-sum game. Even going beyond the average person, most people never need it. By needing it, I mean a scenario where you would be in financial harm. You are usually better taking that money you would have spent, investing it, and using it to pay for something in the off scenario. 

 

People are now even more scared because of COVID, and believe this is necessary. When in reality, prices have gone up, and many policies still don't cover COVID. CFAR insurance is also a waste. paying to get back 50-75% of something you could already afford to spend, is also a waste.

[Babr]

1 hour ago, hotsauce126 said:

I've never bought travel insurance for any trip but we're young without any significant medical issues and have both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum cards that have a significant number of travel protections

Credit card coverage is generally better for cancellation than for medical. CSR provides $2,500, correct? That could supplement your primary coverage.

 

Does either card cover evacuation expenses?

 

It is fairly common, especially for people who travel often, to pair credit card coverage with an annual medical and evacuation policy. If you travel with credit card coverage only, you are exposed to what could be your greatest financial risk - unlimited medical bills.

[CSHS1979]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:54 AM, shipgeeks said:

We rarely buy insurance for a cruise, certainly not for a local one.  We've never felt vulnerable doing that, but it is certainly a personal decision.

It is my understanding that bills incurred on the ship can be submitted to one's health insurance carrier when back home, and should be reimbursed if the injury or sickness would be covered at home.

For the possibility of being hospitalized in a country that requires immediate payment before treatment, we carry credit cards that will allow us to do that.

 

BCBS has reimbursed us several times. 👍

[SRF]

You can buy insurance with a $0 trip cost. It covers the medical and med evac and a number of other things.  Just not the cruise fare.

 

Runs less than $40 per trip for me.

 

My mother had an issue on a cruise in Halifax.  Med evac back to DC was $29,000.  And that did not include the medical bills for the Canadian hospital.  

 

Up to you, but even healthy people fall down and injure themselves. 

[shellunderwater]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:54 AM, shipgeeks said:

We rarely buy insurance for a cruise, certainly not for a local one.  We've never felt vulnerable doing that, but it is certainly a personal decision.

It is my understanding that bills incurred on the ship can be submitted to one's health insurance carrier when back home, and should be reimbursed if the injury or sickness would be covered at home.

For the possibility of being hospitalized in a country that requires immediate payment before treatment, we carry credit cards that will allow us to do that.

Your insurance MAY NOT cover any treatment outside the US.  Or it MAY.  You need to find out from your plan.  I've seen both coverages.  Just all depends.

[Babr]

On 7/11/2021 at 8:54 AM, shipgeeks said:

We rarely buy insurance for a cruise, certainly not for a local one.  We've never felt vulnerable doing that, but it is certainly a personal decision.

It is my understanding that bills incurred on the ship can be submitted to one's health insurance carrier when back home, and should be reimbursed if the injury or sickness would be covered at home.

For the possibility of being hospitalized in a country that requires immediate payment before treatment, we carry credit cards that will allow us to do that.

Most likely your primary insurance will cover eligible expenses, but I expect it will be done at out-of-network rates for usual and customary fees. You could find yourself with larger than expected out-of-pocket and co-pay expenses.

[smplybcause]

On 7/11/2021 at 1:02 AM, firefly333 said:

Idk if they do x Ray's onboard. One of the carnival posts who was posting live got his foot run over by a lady in a scooter ramming thru. He thought was bruised but got it xrayed at home and its broke and hes in a boot. .. lol so you can get hurt cruising. Not sure ships have the medical equipment to xray it though. 

 

I know for a fact that the Oasis class has xrays. And it's a couple hundred per shot if I remember the price list right. 

[smplybcause]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:54 AM, shipgeeks said:

It is my understanding that bills incurred on the ship can be submitted to one's health insurance carrier when back home, and should be reimbursed if the injury or sickness would be covered at home.

 

I would verify with your health insurance. It would be out of network for every insurance, but there's a lot of health insurances that only cover things out of the county (which a cruise ship would be considered as such) if it's "life and death" and when I talked to them they wouldn't commit to what exactly was life and death and just said "you'd have to submit it and find out". Plus out of network usually has a much higher deductible before it covers anything (mine is 2500 vs 6500). Also - if the cruise ship doesn't document it right with the codes your insurance accepts you're pretty SOL because getting back in touch with the doctor to correct the records would be pretty much impossible I would think. 

[smplybcause]

On 7/11/2021 at 2:18 PM, FredZiffle said:

Keep in mind that those of you who are cruising to Alaska this summer, you are not leaving the US, so your regular medical insurance should cover you.

 

For other cruises outside the US, a good site for comparing coverages is www.squaremouth.com.  I have no interest in what I call disappointment insurance (coverage for trip cancellation, etc.), but I can find basic medical that covers evacs and up to $15,000 in medical coverage for less than $50 for two seniors.

 

It'll cover you if you only seek medical care on land. 😉 But might be out of network. 

[molly361]

On 7/11/2021 at 9:59 AM, mafig said:

We're on Medicare.  That doesn't cover you outside the country.🙁

Unless you have Medicare Advantage.  We have that thru Florida Health Care and I just found out that it covers out of country.  It's a nominal amount though